Erekat: Trump radically changed US policy towards Palestine-Israel conflict

Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat said the administration of US President Donald Trump has radically changed American policy towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Erekat said it stopped using the term “occupied” in reference to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights adding that it “is not just a change in terminology, but a change in policy”.

The recent change adds to the US’ unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the “undivided” capital of Israel and moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to  the holy city, closing the US consulate in Jerusalem and the PLO office in Washington, legitimising illegal Israeli settlements and dropping the two-state solution, as well as cutting aid to the Palestinians and the UN agency setup to support them, he continued.

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Erekat stressed that this has made the US administration an effective partner of Israeli settlers and extremists.

Going on to call on the international community to take into account the report of the UN Human Rights Council’s facts finding commission and hold the occupying power accountable for its crimes as well as reject the Trump administration’s policies which violate international law and international legitimacy.